Holocaust Survivor & Iconic La Developer Dies At 88

Jona Goldrich, founder of Goldrich & Kest, a 60-year-old real estate development and management firm with residential, commercial and other projects in California has died at 88. A holocaust survivor who escaped the Nazi invasion of Poland with his younger brother but whose parents and older brother perished, Goldrich arrived in LA with $50 in his pocket and parlayed that into one of California’s most successful privately owned real estate companies.

Goldrich was born in Turka (Lvov), Poland to a prominent Jewish family who stressed the importance of education and charitable giving. Every Friday evening his parents would invite those less fortunate into their home for Sabbath dinner and to distribute Challah (bread) to the hungry. The family’s emphasis on education and philanthropy set the stage for Goldrich’s direction in life as he funded various scholarship programs and supported many causes like the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, of which his daughter, Melinda Goldrich is a Board member and Andrea Goldrich Cayton is Vice-President http://www.lamoth.org/the-museum/staff--officers/

The company will continue to be run by the heirs of Goldrich and Kest including Barry Cayton, Jona’s son-in-law, and Sol’s son, Ezra Kest, M.D.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust (100 S. The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90036)